I love James Ellroy, just based on this first book I've read of his but also seeing him on his cable specials like 'LA: City of Demons' and 'James' ElI love James Ellroy, just based on this first book I've read of his but also seeing him on his cable specials like 'LA: City of Demons' and 'James' Ellroy's Feast of Death' and seeing him on Conan O'brien in a Youtube clip, and watching 'L.A. Confidential' before I knew anything about him and after. His personal story is tragic and his writing comes directly from that and it is not second hat, he writes amazingly and passionately and brings creativity from darkness. I admire him and have enjoyed everything I've encountered of his and would love to read more....more

Great story. I thought this was going to be a story from the first movie, especially once they introduced Dwight, but it seems they adapted pretty looGreat story. I thought this was going to be a story from the first movie, especially once they introduced Dwight, but it seems they adapted pretty loosely. I can definitely see half from this and half from another book, I mean for the section with Dwight in the flick; could definitely see the workings of Sin City as a whole in the interactions of just this book and the first book. This was a great read.

About a woman who is a hot as sin and the man who can only live out of sight or out of his mind. And the city that loves them....more

“And will it not be better?” I mused fantastically, afterwards at home, stifling the living pang of my heart with fantastic dreams. “Will it not be be“And will it not be better?” I mused fantastically, afterwards at home, stifling the living pang of my heart with fantastic dreams. “Will it not be better that she should keep the resentment of the insult for ever? Resentment—why, it is purification; it is a most stinging and painful consciousness! Tomorrow I should have defiled her soul and have exhausted her heart, while now the feeling of insult will never die in her heart, and however loathsome the filth awaiting her—the feeling of insult will elevate and purify her … by hatred … h’m! … perhaps, too, by forgiveness.… Will all that make things easier for her though?

And, indeed, I will ask on my own account here, an idle question: which is better—cheap happiness or exalted sufferings? Well, which is better?

So I dreamed as I sat at home that evening, almost dead with the pain in my soul."

- Excerpt from Notes From Underground

Another case of utopia of the heart, myopia of time: vexed at the fact of being able to imagine all the problems of paradise,and the ill-fittingness of one as a savior for anyone who is not oneself, and thus; no chance for salvation at all....more

I read this because of the lecture series by this author as a Professor for The Teaching Company, Literary Modernism. The lecture series was great, anI read this because of the lecture series by this author as a Professor for The Teaching Company, Literary Modernism. The lecture series was great, and this book overlapped some but was mostly new, mostly great, and very good material overall. Very dense writing, I spent five minutes staring at some pages re-reading sentences over and over. This probably isn't the best intro to T.S. Eliot, which is how I'm mainly using it, but the Eliot that this guy is writing about, the author certainly knows well....more

A great look at the women in T.S. Eliot's life. Very insightful, and I believe the author's opinions are correct due to the evidence presented and theA great look at the women in T.S. Eliot's life. Very insightful, and I believe the author's opinions are correct due to the evidence presented and the presentation methods and angles of approach to the material. Very good reading if you're interested in T.S. Eliot's personal motivations and the story behind his writing....more

I like this comic. It is 'edgy'. I like it because it rails against the world it sees as the problem, while simultaneously inventing all sorts of newI like this comic. It is 'edgy'. I like it because it rails against the world it sees as the problem, while simultaneously inventing all sorts of new problems for the world. Like it says, what matters is not how much of the stuff that goes on there is shit, what matters is that the city is alive.

I couldn't help thinking of the movie 'Talk Radio' when I read this, it being one of my favorite movies, and the shared idea of the journalist who is wanting to be the furious messenger who is really, inside, the calm(?-nascent?) center of the world, only Spider Jerusalem is coming down from the mountain in the beginning of this series, not seeking proof that anyone else even knows it exists (before dying there) like the guy in Talk Radio.

Because Spider aims to change the political scene and is more punk than shock, I guess that's where the two differ. I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes. I picked up a bunch of issues at my comic shop, so I can read on....more

This was a great book. This is the third book I've read about H.P. Blavatsky, and I'm currently also about a third of the way into 'Isis Unveiled', anThis was a great book. This is the third book I've read about H.P. Blavatsky, and I'm currently also about a third of the way into 'Isis Unveiled', and she is definitely fun to read about. This book just came out and is a 'clarifying' biography, meaning it tries to make sense of the cloudy past and past biographies of Madame Blavatsky, seeing as how she is shrouded in mystery and their is much contention over details of her life, her 'works' and the overall myth that surrounds her. But this was a good one. It is written by what I'd call a believer skeptic. He believes, but he can make enough sense of things to write the truth. He doesn't let his belief get in the way of critical thinking, and it only tints the 1/10 of a percent where you ask yourself if their were any 'miracles' involved with Blavatsky's life, the feats which she herself downplayed as unimportant to actual belief and understanding.

I'd also recommend 'Madame Blavatsky's Baboon' by Peter Washington. It's more critical and is also a more general history of Theosophy, covering more of the development of the Theosophical Society beyond Blavatsky, whereas Lachman stuck to Blavatsky.

Gary Lachman is also a definitely recommended author. I've read 'A Dark Muse: A History of the Occult' and it was excellent and he's written many other books about the occult and occult figures to date....more